Ex-Facebook exec pushes software-defined networks

The migration toward software-defined networks will move faster than carriers' migration to IP (Internet Protocol) in the late 1990s, Facebook's former technical operations chief said Wednesday.

Likewise, the firmware in networking gear today constrains network operators, forcing them to build "wrappers" in their management software for devices from different vendors, Heiliger said. For example, to make sure a packet traverses the network with a certain quality of service, administrators need to make sure that the variables on a wide variety of gear are set correctly. They should be able to have that packet sent in the desired way without regard for the underlying network, he said.

"I don't want to have to worry about it. I want another intelligent piece of software to have to worry about it," Heiliger said.